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Topic: Dinner at the Stump (Read 2666 times)

With a roll of her eyes, Maal drains one of the tankards before her and suddenly stands, knocking her chair over backwards with a loud clatter. Leaning over the table, she says, "Prhaps, we should jus ask Garret if he has a more private room in the back that we can use to talk..."

With an exasperated sigh, she grabs up her remaining full mug of ale (carelessly spilling much of it on the table), straightens up to her full height, and marches around the table headed for the bar.

The chirping of the peepers echoes through the valley. The light of the element deities shines down upon the young leaves of the trees lighting the forest in peculiar ways. The distant melody of the Fogveil offers peace to the ears and calms the spirit. The dark hours in Threshold could be considered the most beautiful and yet they're rarely ever seen.

Jarmok cast an annoyed glance at the anxious halfling, but did not address his request.

"Odd thing." He said quietly. "Have no memory beyond Grumbar's last cycle. Thought that bad." He shook his head sadly, patting Kit's head as it lay on his shoulder. "Memories maybe worse than none."

He looked up then, and Laren noted that Jarmok seemed to be counting in his head and a small, odd smile crept onto the lean, foriegn face. "Kit get freedom same time? Last time Grumbar full? Start life same time? Twins!" He chuckled at his own joke, hoping that the young girl's mood might improve.

Jarmok moved around the fire to comfort his friend. "Is enough." He said sympathetically. "Kit's spirit hurt most. Not your fault, but not alone now, never again, except your want to be."

He held the sob-wracked lass for a long while, not knowing what else to do. "Mercer say: 'evil win if good men do nothing'." He mused. A long, low growl escaped from deep within the outlander's lean chest.

"P'r-tek-t'ret help eachother. No more evil here." It sounded oddly like he was making a pledge of sorts, or reiterating one that he had already made.

Although his words were broken, his voice was smooth and sturdy, fueled, it seemed, by some deep-seated inner rage, the bredth of which sounded further-reaching than the violation of an innocent child.

Kit paused as she traced a finger down the length of her right arm, lost in the violent memory. Jarmok looked upon the broken young girl, outlined in the glow of the fire. He noted that there was no scar.

?So that?s how it remained for over two years. My pain was his control over me. I was never free of him, always with me, even as I slept. I was a prisoner in my own mind. He controlled my every move, every word and every deed. For two years Markell used me to perform chemical experiments in a laboratory of Drakyr?s keep. We did nothing but alchemy, without a single day of rest. Birthdays, days of festival throughout the year, the comfort of my home and family and growing up with my friends in Mandin, all the pleasures in life had been taken from me.? She stopped again, wiped a new tear from her eye and sighed. She was summoning the strength to go on.

?Then a few months after I turned fourteen, I had my first chance at freedom. One day in the lab, Markell had simply fallen off me, lapsing into unconsciousness. I later learned that he had fallen ill from a disease,? a rare smile had touched Kits lips, it was malevolent.

She quickly broke from it. ?The shock of my spirit rushing back into my mind, and the sudden ability to control my own movements threw me at first. But as soon as I regained control, I bolted from the lab and went to my dungeon bedroom to collect my things, leaving the slug behind on the lab floor.?

?As I was about to leave the bedroom, a girl named Jordan, who I thought was a fellow slave, betrayed me. She entered the room and shot me in the leg with a crossbow. She left me on the bedroom floor, bleeding to death. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I desparately wished for it.?

?But I was damned, for I awoke many hours later, chained to my bed, with the wound dressed and Drakyr standing over me.? Kit paused again, taking a breath and steeling herself.

The next statement she attempted quickly, as if to get it over with. But she failed. ?He announced that I was to be punished for my attempt to escape. His minion, Leech, the man who killed my father, he entered the room and?and he...?

Kit covered her face with both hands and shook as she wept, not able to continue.

"Drakyr had captured me to serve as a host to a parasite." she said with a look of disgust. "This slug was deposited on my naked back where it grafted to my skin and soon invaded my mind. For it too was a Seer. It locked my spirit, my soul, my very conscience away within my own mind."

She looked at Jarmok and Laren, not sure if they understood. She turned to Jarmok and said, "I could feel, see, hear and smell. But I could not command my own movements, my body belonged to the slug."

They both appeared to understand so she gazed back at the fire and continued.

"After Markell had gained control, it was no longer necessary to keep me locked into the dungeon. Markell, through me, and his friend Drakyr were able to continue with their evil plans."

"Evil plans?" Laren asked.

"I will get back to that," she said, not taking her gaze from the fire.

"When at first I tried to rebel, Markell showed me the power he had over me," she again looked at Jarmok. Staring into his eyes to gain strength from the compassion she found there.

"He took his dagger, and split my arm open from elbow to wrist," tears were again in her eyes as she turned away. "The pain was all mine, it was but a shadow to him...I thought I would die. He healed me with an elixer, but promised to do it again if I stepped out of line."

Jarmok leapt up from the spot where he crouched next to the fire and went to a covered barrel that stood next to the cabin. Taking a large cup from a hanger next to the barrel, and sliding the cover aside, he dipped the cup and returned to proffer the cup to Kit.

He then reclaimed his spot next to the fire and attended the continuing saga.